Rheinmetall and Elbit Systems recently successfully presented an automated 155 millimeter L52 wheeled howitzer in live fire. The demonstration of the new system took place at the Shivta firing range in southern Israel. High-ranking guests from the British, German, Dutch and Hungarian armed forces were present.
Last year, Rheinmetall and Elbit Systems signed a cooperation agreement on the development, production and marketing of a European fully automated 155-millimeter wheeled howitzer system. Under the leadership of Rheinmetall Landsysteme GmbH, the “Rheinmetall Elbit” team will focus on the “Future Indirect Fire – Medium Range System” programme to modernize and expand the capabilities of the Bundeswehr capabilities in the field of artillery. The focus remains on the British “Mobile Fires Platform” program, which is also attracting considerable interest from other potential customers such as Hungary. The cooperation builds on the procurement programs of the Israeli Ministry of Defense and other customer countries, under which a fully automated wheeled howitzer was ordered from Elbit Systems. This makes it possible to use a system with a high degree of maturity. The Rheinmetall weapon system can be integrated into the unmanned and fully automated robotic artillery turret from Elbit Systems. This is already at an advanced stage of integrated verification. From the perspective of the two companies involved, this will reduce development risks and enable time-optimized production of the operational capability. https://militaeraktuell.at/empl-ambulanzkofferaufbauten-fuer-die-bundeswehr/ An intensive bilateral technology transfer is currently taking place in order to make know-how and components available locally. Rheinmetall is making modifications for the Europeanization and approval of the system in Germany. The company is also contributing its field-proven 155-millimeter L52 weapon system, the highly mobile HX 10×10 tactical truck with a well-protected cabin and electronic components for fire control and sensor technology. In addition, Rheinmetall is already working on a range extender for the tube artillery. In addition to the use of the field-proven L52 and its further development A1, the wheeled howitzer also enables the use of the future L60 weapon system – currently under development – with a significantly larger charge chamber and longer barrel with 60 caliber lengths. This weapon system will be able to fire JBMoU-compliant ammunition up to 83 kilometers. The wheeled howitzer thus fulfills the requirements for the Bundeswehr’s future wheel-based indirect fire (ZukSysIndF) medium-range system. John Abunassar, CEO of Rheinmetall’s Vehicle Systems division, and Yehuda (Udi) Vered, General Manager of Elbit Systems: “We are proud to present the advanced 155-millimeter artillery system to the world. The successful demonstration of the automated howitzer has shown the synergy and innovative technologies of the Rheinmetall-Elbit team. This team is uniquely positioned to provide Germany and other armed forces with outstanding capabilities in the field of tube artillery. We are convinced that this joint German-Israeli project will contribute to strengthening the cooperation between the nations and their armed forces.”
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